Remote-control latch



June 27, 1950 c. D. QUEEN 2,512,776

REMOTE CONTROL LATCH Filed Nov. 1, 1946 INVENTOR.

Patented June 27, 1950 UNITED STATES? This invention relates to improvements remotecontrol latches for hinged' closures. The device designed primarily for latching down a hinged capon the filler neck of" an aut'omobile fuel tank, and may be termed a? lock inasmuch as the switch which controls" thecircuit that releases the latch may'be located-upon the instru ment board of the automobile which inacees=- sible to unauthorized persons when the doors of the automobile are locked:

One of the obje'cts'of theinventionis-the-prm vision of means of extreme simplicity'foreifeciing the release of'the-latch 'electromagnetically and in a positive manner with. amelectromagnet of relatively small size and capacity.

other objects-and features-of*novelty will appear as I proceed with the descriptiemofthatembodiment ofrthe'invention whiclnjorthepurposes of the present application llhave illustrated intheaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is.v a central vertical sectional view. through a cap assembly that maybe used.gin:car. ryingout the invention, the view being taken substantially on the line I-l of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view substantially at right angles to that of Fig. 1 and taken approximately on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental sectional view on a larger scale, the view being taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing, see Fig. 3, an automobile gasoline tank is indicated at I0. It has a filler neck I l upon which I mount a casing l2, preferably circular in plan except for one short straight wall l3. From the latter wall there extend two cars M which receive a hinge pin 15. A pair of cars l6 interposed between the ears M are journaled on the pin l5 and are formed integral with a depending flange I! on a lid or cover IS, the flange I1 extending down well below the upper surface of the casing when the lid is closed. A spring l9 tends to raise the lid to open position when the latch is released.

The casing l2 has an eccentric opening in its lower side to fit over the neck II. The casing may be secured to the neck by any suitable means, as for example by screws threaded into nuts disposed beneath an inwardly extending flange 2| that is attached to the upper end of the neck ll. When the lid is closed the screws 20 are of course inaccessible.

;At"thesid errf the-casi-ng opposite the there-is ancpening- 22" through Whicha-hook integrahwi-th the lid extends downwardly whenthe-lid is closed. This hook is normally engaged" a latch" 24 which" constitutespart of *a slide- ZB'that is'heldagainsttheupperwall'ofthecasing the casing by screws-21* or' the like; Slide? Swanries' two-spaced" dependinglugsZ-Band 29% The hook and the latch have cam surfaces which en gage-and deflect" the-slide when the lid is--swung-" tocl'osed position.

In thehol-low portion of the casingt2 provided? by the eccentric positioning of the wal' l 30- I 'l mount a solenoid 3| so disposed thatd-tsaxisi's parallel withthe direction of movementofslide 25% A convenient mounting forthe solenoid shown in Fig: 4-, wherea bracket 32 of copper or other hon magnetic material attached by'suit abiemeans tcthe-ends of the-solnoid-"is secured to=the upper wall of the casing Why-meansscrews 33.

An armature 34 slides within the solenoid, being biased outwardly by a coil spring 35 which bears at the rear end of the solenoid against an iron plug 36 which closes that end and contributes to the strength of the pull of the solenoid at the end of the stroke of the armature. That end of the armature 34 which projects from the solenoid is provided with a head 31 that extends into the path of movement of the two lugs 28 and 29. Current for energizing the solenoid may be supplied by conductors 3B and 39 which in the present case would be connected with a storage battery. The circuit would be broken ordinarily but would be arranged to be closed by a push button switch located on the instrument board of the automobile.

In the operation of the device, assuming that current is caused to flow through the conductors 38 and 39, the armature will be moved toward the left from the position illustrated in Fig. 4. Its motion will be accelerated as inertia is over come, and by the time it reaches lug 28 it will be moving very rapidly and will deliver a hammer blow to that lug and hence to the slide 25 which will overcome the friction between the latch 24 and hook 23 and whatever friction exists between the slide and its guide, thereby unlatching the hook. The lid will then swing to open position under the influence of spring l9. As soon as the operator releases the push button switch and the solenoid is de-energized spring 35 will function to force armature 34 to the right. After taking up the lost motion provided by the spacing of lugs 28, 29, the head 21 will strike lug 29 a blow, causing it to move rapidly until stopped by the engagement of lug 28 with guide bracket 26. Spring 35 holds the latching slide 25 in the illustrated position, yielding when the cam faces on the hook and latch cause the slide to move slightly to the left and lug 29 to move armature 34 a corresponding amount in the same direction.

The construction may be still further simplified by forming the latch 24 as an integral part of the armature and eliminating the slide 25, but 1 prefer the illustrated arrangement on account of the advantage obtained from the hammer blows delivered to the latch when lost motion is provided in the manner shown.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a remote control latch for holding a hinged closure member against the fixed member 1 to which it is hinged, a casing having an opening therethrough adapted to be attached to one of said members, the other member having a hook extending into said casing, a solenoid mounted in said casing with its axis in a plane intersecting said hook, an armature movable in said solenoid, a spring working against the armature in opposition to the action of said solenoid, latch means having two spaced projections one of which is adapted to be engaged by said armature under the action of said spring for causing the latch means to engage and retain said hook when said solenoid is deenergized, and the other of which is adapted to be engaged by said armature when the solenoid is energized for causing the latch means to release said hook. Y

2. In a remote control latch for the hinged lid of a tank cap, a casing having an opening therethrough adapted to be operatively connected with the filler neck of a tank, said lid having a depending hook extending into the casing, a latching slide on the casing havin two spaced proje'ctions, said slide being adapted in one position to engage said hook for holding the closure memher in closed position, a solenoid mounted in said casing with its axis parallel to the general direction of movement of said slide, an armature movable in said solenoid, a spring working against said armature in opposition to the action of said solenoid, said armature having a head adapted under the influence of said spring to strike one ofsaid projections for causing the slide to engage and retain said hook when the solenoid is deenergized, and adapted when the solenoid is energized to strike the other of said projections for causing the slide to disengage and release said hook.

3. In a remote control latch for holding a hinged closure member against the fixed member to which it is hinged, a casing having an opening therethrough adapted to be attached to one of said members, the other member having a hook extending into said casing, a solenoid mounted in said casing, an armature movable in said solenoid, a spring working against the armature inopposition to the action of said solenoid, latch solenoid is deenergized, and the other of which is adapted to be engaged by said armature when the solenoid is energized for causing the latch means to release said hook.

CHARLES D. QUEEN.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,081,717 Steele May 25, 1937 2,101,758 Shaffer Dec. '7, 1937 2,149,695 Wilhelm Mar. 7, 1939 

